Yiga Clan Hideout - Establishing the Yiga
Characters involved: '' * ''Ganondorf * Artifa * Daray YIGA CLAN HIDEOUT Ganondorf APP PM The crushing sounds of the waterfall in the background provide a nice, relaxing atmosphere for those in the Yiga Clan hideout. Though outside is in a permanent state of night, it's actually much darker inside the cavern. Only the lanterns that are fixed upon the moist walls provide light - the orange flames flickering away. They draw shadows long and dark, making the whole area feel quite eery. It was near perfect. Trotting in on his magnificent steed, the King of Evil dismounts to take in the area. Already his gerudo shadows had arrived - each of which had set up their own personal space to settle in. No doubt they were awaiting orders on what to do and how to do it. Heavy footsteps echo through the cavern halls as Ganondorf makes his way into the central common area. He draws the gaze of a few that have yet to see him up close - a fearsome sight indeed. Somehow, in these shadows and dark ambience, he looks even more mighty and menacing. His eyes of dread look around, clearly looking for someone in particular. His mouth turns to a frown as his impatience grows. "Tch." Artifa APP PM Artifa appeared before Ganondorf, kneeling with head bowed before him. "Please, forgive my timing and appearance. I was engaged in a battle with Lady Impa. I have not had time to make myself presentable to you," she admitted. "Yet, I have made the preparations. This place was already chosen in advance and I am satisfied with how the warriors you have provided have taken to this place. I believe it will serve as an effective grounds for more work to commence." Ganondorf APP PM "That was to be expected." Ganondorf replies, pursing his lips. He did note to Artifa in their last meeting that eventually the Sheikah would be uncover her actions. Though the speed in which they operated had caught even him a little off guard. "To garner the attention of Impa herself - truly you are delving into magics and techniques that have ruffled a few feathers." Taking a breath, he swivels his head to look at a few of the gerudo which have gathered. "You are _satisfied_?" He repeats, eyes widening in annoyance. "Your satisfaction is not a requirement to proceed. These gerudo will do just fine." Stroking his chin, he considers the next stage of action. "The eternal night should provide you enough cover to carry out your further tasks. Soon you will be joined by Daray - a once-Sheikah like yourself. I have charged him with training the gerudo here with the finer skills that Sheikah possess. You will work with him to recruit, manage and drive forward operations that will undercut Hyrule's system and exploit its existing corruption. This time, we will take Hyrule by the inside." "As the infinite night grows longer, I expect darker creatures to emerge and take their place on the fields. They should provide enough distraction for you to progress." Artifa APP PM "I meant no offense by my spoken words, only that I am pleased to be accompanied by them. I did not choose my words carefully," Artifa maintained her position on the ground. "I have some connections that I believe can be exploited. Further, my previous hobby should be of some use to us here. Between myself and the charge you have provided, Hyrule will be whittled down and malleable to be shaped into your vision. The night is perfect for what has been planned, as well. Also, I have something for you, but it's not quite ready yet. Though, it has been clawing its way through my mind lately. Once it is ready, I will present it to you." Daray APP PM "A word of advice -- as much as we _all_ love darkness, our King does _not_ enjoy being metaphorically kept in the dark." ;) Daray slips in and sheds his tattered disguise. "I suggest you be a bit more explicit about your prize." He wants to say he'd be surprised if Ganondorf hasn't already sensed what it is anyway, but that would be setting up the boss-man for potential embarassment, kind of a no-no. "I did what I could to baffle your tracks on the way here, by the way." Artifa APP PM "Fair enough," Artifa replied to Daray. "It is the Shadow Beast, Bongo Bongo. He has not quite yet reached completion, though he has been given form. I have been holding onto him until such a time he was ready to be relinquished and handed over to hands better suited for him," she admitted. "The events at Kakariko weren't ideal, but they were necessary. We're now at the point where our work can push forward. Hyrule will know true darkness once again." Ganondorf APP PM "The Bongo creature." Ganondorf answers to Daray, unblinking gaze drifting to him and then back to Artifa. His arms tighten considerable across his chest at the thought. "In a weakened state, but a state nonetheless. Yes - once it is ready I will inspect it. Depending on how it thrives, it could be quite useful in what I have planned." The King of Evil seems a bit grumpy at the moment. Though he's rarely in a happy mood, at the moment he's particularly feeling a bit broody. Maybe all that magic he expelled. "The portal that runs next to the Temple of Time has been largely sealed. Link and his allies will have a difficult time coming back through it, meaning that our head start has already begun. Movement must be swift and efficient from here on out. I suspect that with the darkness, we will begin to see the return of many wolfos, stalchildren, poe and more. Those who roam the fields will do so at their own risk." "The gorons and zora are my next pressing concern. Both of these kingdoms have proved to be quite..." He pauses, lifting a hand to rub his eyebrows as he thinks of a suitable adjective. "...grating. You are both to continue as you are and wait for further orders." Artifa APP AM "It is as you will it," she states. "I will see to it that more are recruited to our cause. I trust Daray will be effective at training the Gerudo you have provided properly and soon the recruits that will be present here. There is much work to be done, but I have confidence that it will be accomplished at the appropriate time," she shared willingly. "Also," she continued. "Princess Zelda, last I saw, was among the Gerudo at the Fortress. She and a host of royal units left with her after the darkness overtook the town. Lady Impa may be on her way as we speak to return to her if she hasn't already joined back by her side." Ganondorf APP PM "Who remains in the Castle if that is the case?" Ganondorf asks himself, giving himself a moment to ponder the answer. It could still likely be filled with guards, but if entire units of the royal guard had left to be with the Princesses side, it could open up a small window. "With Zelda and her shard of the triforce out of the equation, I can use the malice already in Castle Town to take control of Hyrule Castle itself." That devilish grin appears on his face once more - a lowly chuckle rumbling through the cavern and halls of the Yiga hideout. "Ha. Ha. Ha." With a heavy stride he makes his way for his steed once more, mounting the great beast with glowing red eyes with a smooth motion. Kicking at its sides, he launches off and out into the dark wilderness once more - a new agenda now on his brain. Daray APP PM Oh yes, trust Daray to be effective at training. Trust the renegade who escaped the Sheikah clan in his youth to be good at instilling discipline and passing on technique to outsiders he believes can only imitate at best. e.e Not that he's going to complain or anticipate failure. When Big G sets you a task, it better get done, one way or another. Anyway, it's not like Daray doesn't know what he wants to do to get started. "So, these are supposed to be the best shadow warriors the Gerudo clan has to offer?" Daray remarks, walking into the middle of the cave and casually twirling his kama. "Right, who here wants to prove they don't need to take direction from a _real_ shadow?" ;) Spoof APP AM Some of the Gerudo look between one another as if considering the challenge. One of them steps forward and proceeds to speak for the group. "We were informed prior to our arrival here that we would be utilized as warriors for a force by Lord Ganondorf, associated with a traitor of the Sheikah, " the warrior looks over into Artifa's direction. "We were not informed of two traitors, but our directive remains. Despite this, I believe I can speak for my sisters that we can prove ourselves. Not for lack of taking direction, but by providing a demonstration of our abilities. If we are to take direction from you, then that will be our focus," she explained to Daray. "I am Mica of the Cold Waters. I will be your demonstration partner," she saluted him formally and stepped closer to him, drawing her weapons as she did so. Two blades, one standard size and the other smaller, for offhand combat and as a support weapon, both revealing to have been designed for effective countering measures. On her person were other utilities to be used for varying purposes. Artifa APP AM Artifa still had yet to remove her clothing and clean herself up, but she found herself invested in this potential demonstration. She settled onto the floor into a half lotus position. Once relaxed, she eyed Daray saying, "When you are ready, please call for the demonstration to begin," she asked of him. She felt the need to say this, given their initial meeting and his intentions of ambushing her. He never followed it through, but the fact he voiced it was concerning enough. Besides that, she didn't want one of these Gerudo to be viciously caught unaware and placed out of commission before they could be of use. "I would like to see what we are working with and perhaps coordinate ourselves to be effective with their style as well as our own." Daray APP PM Meh, Artifa isn't much fun it seems like. e.e Daray files her admonition away in his brain and focuses his attention on Mica. "My my, how dutiful," he chuckles. "The funny thing is, though, all that chain-of-command stuff isn't really how we do things here. Oh, our King expects obedience all right, but ultimately only to himself. Beyond that, what he cares about is results." Daray extends his arm and points his kama at those watching, slowly sweeping it across the room. "In King Dragmire's service, you cannot hide behind 'following orders'. If you fail to please the King, it doesn't matter if it's due to obeying what someone else told you to do, it doesn't matter if nobody told you what you _should_ do, it doesn't even matter if the odds were ten to one against you, you will *SUFFER*. So you're not going to follow me because you were told to. No, you're going to follow me for the reason _why_ our King placed me above you." Daray gives Mica just a swift glance of intent as a warning before closing on her with a serpentine flick of his kama. "BECAUSE I AM THE BEST!!!" >D Fallon AM (OOC: Goodness, time to push this forward. Lol. It's been sitting forever.) Spoof APP AM Mica swung the larger of her blades to counteract the kama and send it up into the air. She hadn't seen a weapon like it before, to be honest, but it was a chance for her to learn how to work with it. The fact it was chained already gave her an idea of its versatility and how it could be used. With the temporary opening, she lowered herself and ran forward, blades extended to either side of her as she closed the gap to slash at Daray. Daray APP AM _(OOC: Sorry for the ambiguity, but Daray doesn't use the chained variety of kama. X) He uses a pair of ordinary ones, one in each hand.) Fallon PM (OOC: Whoops, sorry about that. I can't edit the spoof, so I'll just have to act accordingly. Hehe.) Daray APP PM Daray takes advantage of Mica's low approach to vault over her, dropping his left kama to plant a hand on her shoulder and roll down her back. The right kama swishes by her head as Daray lands. "If you had proper ears, you'd be missing a chunk now," Daray remarks, swivelling around to face Mica. "Oh, but look, _I'm_ missing a weapon now. Whatever will I do?" :open_mouth: Spoof APP PM Mica, regardless of her ears, was close enough to lose them. She had to admit rolling off of her body was a strange approach, but she couldn't fault it. She hadn't thought of utilizing someone's body to that extent. She didn't bother to respond to the comment of proper ears, deeming it only a distraction. Instead, given the proximity of the two of them she twisted herself around and dropped to the floor, swinging her leg around into a scorpion kick to Daray's chest. He's a strange one for sure. She isn't used to dialogue of this manner in training sessions. Daray APP PM _(OOC: I'm having trouble figuring out what this maneuver is. XD If I Google "scorpion kick" I mainly get a soccer move, and if I add "martial arts" to it I get a different kick but it doesn't seem like something performed from the ground. Did Mica face towards Daray before dropping down and kicking?)_ Fallon PM (OOC: Ah, I get ya. It's one performed in capoeira. The opponent faces towards the person and plants their hands on ground, bringing their foot up from behind to kick the opponent. All the other stuff I included was just to hide her intent.) Mituni PM (OOC: Voldo from Soul Calibur, Scorpion Kick is the move with one leg up https://youtu.be/BfwO-OMwKKM) Daray APP PM This isn't about training to Daray, at least not physical training. It's about establishing a mindset in this group. They are to be like hunting lions, capable of coordinating and cooperating to take down prey, but ultimately independent and self-motivated. They are to see each other as both allies and rivals, all striving for respect through skill and fierceness. And Daray? He's the scariest beast of them all. Daray decides it's time to move from taunting ridicule to hard viciousness. Hardening his chest muscles, he steps into Mica's kick with his torso tilted aside to glance the blow. Then he slips his armpit over the foot and clamps down, twisting it sharply by leaning over. "What is this!?" he snarls. "You gain an advantage and your first thought is to try an awkward surprise kick that you can't put any weight behind?! Did you learn to fight in a DANCE SCHOOL!?!?" :rage: Daray releases Mica's foot and steps back. "If this is the best your tribe has to offer, it's PATHETIC! Come on! SOMEBODY show me something worth fighting! Anybody, ALL of you even!" _(OOC: My apologies if this is making you feel abused or anything. X) I know it can irksome being a punching bag, even when playing a random NPC. If I get too twinky or vainglorious, please let me know.)_ Spoof APP PM Mica winced and grimaced with her foot twisted and locked. Upon release, she took a stand and steadied her weight on it. The rest of the warriors with her had faces hard as stone, refusing to relinquish any conceivable thoughts on their mind. A casual resting hand was placed over one of the blades of her sisters, but Mica eyed her comrade carefully indicating she didn't want or need any interventions. The others took the hint and followed suit, leaving their only option to watch. Inside was a fire burning out of control, but over their faces were the cold waters that quenched it. "Fine." She brandished her weapons once again. "What you want is a fight and not a spar. You have made that evident." Mica, with this new understanding, threw herself upwards, taking to the openings within the cave on the ceiling. She unleashed with the full force of her blades, carving straight through the stalactites that hung above Daray's head and surroundings. Sharp, jagged spires proceeded to rain down from the ceiling to strike down earthen fury upon her target. Fallon PM (OOC: I get ya. We'll see how it goes. Lol. I tend to play up to things for story mechanics, so I dunno yet. Hehe.) Artifa APP PM Artifa has been sitting silently the entire time, observing the engagement between the two fighters. She was looking for the benefits between both fighters and weaknesses of their styles. While studying the two, she was fighting off the Shadow Beast. She kept seeing and hearing things, causing her attention to fail her. She was growing frustrated. Thankfully, the falling stalactites shook her back into focus. She placed a hand to her eyes and covered them as if to stave off dizziness. _Fine. I'll leave. I'll go and see what these visions are about._ She raised up from the ground and walked around the damages to clean herself up and exchange for new clothes. "Make certain that this does not result in extensive injury! We can't have useless bodies for the work that must ne done!" She called out to Daray and Mica. If they wanted to duke it out, she wasn't opposed to that, but by the emd, they'd better be in good condition. Once she was cleared up and in different gear, she headed out of the cave. Daray APP PM Daray smirks, dancing amongst the falling debris. "That's a _bit_ more like it!" >) Daray slides his toes under a shard of rock and flicks it at Mica's face, then lunges in low, hooking his kama around toward the back of her leg. Wolf AM joined #yiga_clan_hideout. Mica APP PM Mica performed a no hands backflip, slipping out of the way of the shard and the kama's grip. With a few pieces of heavier rocks around, she scooped a couple pieces up with her feey and spun around to deliver a combo kick to them both, sending them high and low towards Daray. She makes her drive forward, guiding with the smaller blade in her left hand so that she could counter with the the scimitar in the other with a hard swing. Daray APP PM _(OOC: I wonder if we should try using some dice rolls here. This could go on a while before we figure out a way to resolve it. I've been wanting to try using that Conflict Resolution System I made up over on NMR, but we'd have to hash out what the chars' levels are. Say, Daray would be around 7/10 overall with B-rank fighting skills, S-rank stealth skills, and D-rank magic, to put it in NMR-ish terms. Feel like giving that a shot?)_ Fallon PM (OOC: I wasn't intending on it going on for much longer. I figured a couple or few more rounds and then Mica would have called a close to the session. At this point, I just wanted to establish some ground work for the Gerudo fighters to show they weren't easily pushed around. The fight doesn't have to go on for much longer. I imagined if Riju was sending shadow warriors, they'd have to be specialists that were on par. However, for what's left of the scene here's what I imagine: The fighters are ranged from C to A-Rank stealth. Their melee fighting skills are from B to S given their background and their magic is about E to D. I figure their specialty is primarily in melee fighting which is something they're heavily involved in from a cultural standpoint. In short, let's give the conflict system a shot. :P ) (edited) Daray APP PM _(OOC: Okay, here goes. I think S-rank is a little high for Mica and co.'s fighting ability unless she's really supposed to be a legendary combatant on par with pretty much anybody else in the world. X) To give some comparison, I'd expect the Gerudo elites you encounter in the game to be B-rank fighters, and even Link might be only A-rank as far as pure martial prowess goes. But I'll assume Mica's A-rank for this first roll at least. Also, I need to come up with non-NMR terminology for this. e.e Anyway, let's say Mica is a level 6 character. That makes her base roll 1d(5+6), so 1d11...)_ aubrey PM /roll 1d11 Dicebot APP PM @aubrey rolled *1* Dice 1d11 Rolls 1 Fallon PM /roll 1d11 Dicebot APP PM @Fallon rolled *8* Dice 1d11 Rolls 8 Daray APP PM _(OOC: I guess we'll use your roll. X) Next, A-rank skill means a technique roll starting at 1d10, but since she did something kinda special, let's say she's putting C-rank effort into it. That adds 4, so 1d14 and 3 damage if it succeeds.)_ Fallon PM /roll 1d14 Dicebot APP PM @Fallon rolled *6* Dice 1d14 Rolls 6 Fallon PM (OOC: S-Rank came around so often on NMR, I almost forgot it had an actual meaning. Lol. It's fair to rank them around A. Makes sense. But okie doke.) aubrey PM _(OOC: Total of 14 for Mica's attack. Now Daray defends, starting with his base roll. He's level 7, so it's 1d12 for him.)_ /roll 1d12 Dicebot APP PM @aubrey rolled *2* Dice 1d12 Rolls 2 aubrey PM _(OOC: Hoo boy. X) Daray has a lot of ground to make up there. With B-rank martial skill, his roll starts at 1d8. That would make it impossible to beat Mica's attack without a boost, so I'll have him do a C-rank defense. Defenses double with each rank above E, so that's 1d32. And BTW I'm talking all this out for the benefit of those who might want to try the system later on. :wink: Normally it costs some sort of mana to use techniques above E-rank, but for right now I'm ignoring that aspect of the system to keep things simple.)_ /roll 1d32 Dicebot APP PM @aubrey rolled *31* Dice 1d32 Rolls 31 aubrey PM _(OOC: Phew, Daray easily avoids the attack. Now, his turn for attacking. Again, base roll of 1d12...)_ /roll 1d12 Dicebot APP PM @aubrey rolled *12* Dice 1d12 Rolls 12 aubrey PM _(OOC: Ooo, lucky Daray. >) He'll capitalize on that with his strongest attack, a B-rank effort. Starts at 1d8, goes up by 2 for each rank above E for an attack, so 1d14. Deals 4 damage if it hits.)_ /roll 1d14 Dicebot APP PM @aubrey rolled *4* Dice 1d14 Rolls 4 Daray APP PM Daray twists aside to avoid one rock and swats the other away with the handle of his kama. His eyes widen slightly as Mica comes in, recognizing her intent with using the blades together. It's a solid general tactic, taking advantage of having more weapons than her opponent. But Daray is accustomed to turning enemy advantages into traps. Daray makes a sudden step inward as Mica comes into range, shunting aside her smaller blade with his kama. The bigger one is stopped by Daray's hand on Mica's wrist. Focusing his chi into his leg muscles, he drives his knee up hard at Mica's gut. aubrey PM _(OOC: Mica would need to match 16 to avoid damage. Need any reminders of how it works? :wink: )_ Fallon PM (OOC: Yep, I'll need a reminder. Lol.) aubrey PM _(OOC: Okey-doke. First do your base roll, which is still 1d11.)_ Fallon PM /roll 1d11 Dicebot APP PM @Fallon rolled *4* Dice 1d11 Rolls 4 aubrey PM _(OOC: I should probably start enforcing mana or defense will become too easy. You start with half your level rounded down, which for Mica would be 3. Your skill roll starts at 1d10, and doubles for every point of mana you spend. You currently need to roll at least a 12 to avoid 4 points of damage, so it's up to you whether you want to spend 1 to roll 1d20, 2 to roll 1d40, or 3 to roll 1d80.)_ _(OOC: Also bear in mind you'll gain 2 points of mana after this defense, since the round will be done then.)_ Fallon PM (OOC: Okay. I'll try and keep track, but words and numbers are mixing me up right now since I'm in between posing and assisting with other things. Haha.) /roll 1d20 Dicebot APP PM @Fallon rolled *17* Dice 1d20 Rolls 17 Fallon PM (OOC: Did I win my defense? Hahaha.) aubrey PM _(OOC: Nice. You succeed in your defense and only spent 1 mana. Everyone gains 2 at end of round, so now you're at 4 and Daray's at 2. Technically I shouldn't have been able to do that B-rank attack at all now I look at how things would've worked out. >.>)_ _(OOC: Now you do your attack. Start with base roll 1d11, as always.)_ Fallon PM (OOC: It's all good. I'll let it pass. :3 I think two more rounds of this and we'll be good to go. Rolling for attack.) /roll 1d11 Dicebot APP PM @Fallon rolled *3* Dice 1d11 Rolls 3 Fallon PM (OOC: Was I supposed to add the effort to that roll?) aubrey PM _(OOC: Not a great start, so you'll probably want to be conservative and not spend any mana on this attack. If we want to include the tension levels mechanic, you could do a D-rank attack for free because right now you're in tension level 1 (3-5 mana). That would be 1d12 with 2 damage, or 1d10 with 1 damage if you'd rather not bring tension levels into it.)_ Fallon PM /roll 1d10 Dicebot APP PM @Fallon rolled *6* Dice 1d10 Rolls 6 Fallon PM (OOC: Went with no tension.) aubrey PM _(OOC: Okay. Daray's base roll...)_ /roll 1d12 Dicebot APP PM @aubrey rolled *2* Dice 1d12 Rolls 2 aubrey PM _(OOC: Oh, you can pose now BTW.)_ aubrey PM _(OOC: Oh hey, I was looking at an old version of my system rules. X) Thought it felt like we had an awfully small amount of mana. We start with mana equal to our level, and tension level 1 is 5-10 mana. Lemme recalculate what happened...)_ Mica APP PM Mica rounded off behind Daray and away from the knee kick, dropping low into a sweep. She could already feel how off balance she was given how sloppy she felt, but she followed through with the attack anyway. She was feeling the wear of this battle and wasn't in the mood for continuing any further for concern of her service being hampered. aubrey PM _(OOC: Mica has 5 mana, Daray has 4.)_ _(OOC: Daray spends 1 on this defense...)_ /roll 1d16 Dicebot APP PM @aubrey rolled *14* Dice 1d16 Rolls 14 aubrey PM _(OOC: Success. Now for attack...)_ /roll 1d12 Dicebot APP PM @aubrey rolled *9* Dice 1d12 Rolls 9 aubrey PM _(OOC: Just for fun before we finish this, I'm gonna demonstrate combination techniques here. By spending 1 point of mana, you can add in an extra skill roll, although it doesn't increase the damage, just the success. I'm going to say Daray also has B-rank proficiency with throwing senbon, so he can combine that with a regular attack for an extra 1d8. I could roll each separately, but 2d8 should give the same result.)_ /roll 2d8 Dicebot APP PM @aubrey rolled *12* Dice 2d8 Rolls 8 4 aubrey PM _(OOC: So Mica is now facing an attack of 21, although it only does 1 damage if it hits.)_ Daray APP PM Daray springs up in a backflip to avoid Mica's sweep. His free hand draws several needles from his holster in mid-jump and flings them down in a spread at Mica's outstretched leg. He thens lands near Mica's head and brings his kama down toward her throat. "Yield?" ;) Fallon PM (OOC: I just got home, so once I settle in, I'll make certain to pose so I can work this all out.) Mica APP PM Mica winced at the senbon in her leg, finding it difficult for her to move. They struck in all the important places. She was effectively stuck and with a kama to her neck, there was nothing she could do. "I yield," she remarked, accepting her defeat in this match. She settled onto the floor to relax while her leg maintained in its position. These things didn't hurt very much, but they were effective at temporary paralysis. Besides, she didn't want to move in any form that would affect her body. Daray APP PM Daray tickles Mica's chin with the edge of his blade as he removes it. He plucks his senbon out of her leg and goes to retrieve his other kama. "You've shown me you have potential," Daray remarks, to the group as well as Mica. "I doubt if you can ever _truly_ be one with the shadows, but you can move quickly and strike fiercely, and that will be enough for our purposes. I will teach you to infiltrate and ambush our King's enemies." Daray stows his weapons away and walks out toward the cave mouth. "Establish yourselves, forage some food if you need to, and get some rest. The real training begins early tomorrow."